In view of the tense flood situation in several federal states, the leading SPD budget politician Dennis Rohde has brought the debt brake into play again. “The full extent of the flood damage cannot yet be foreseen, but for exactly such cases we have the option of suspending the debt brake, which is in the Basic Law,” said Dennis Rohde, budget policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, to the Stern. The Federal Constitutional Court’s budget ruling issued in mid-November did not change this after the federal government had to fundamentally replan its budget for 2023 and 2024. The debt brake anchored in the Basic Law was suspended again for 2023.
Rohde added that it will now be examined “closely” whether we can achieve this financial dimension. The member of the Bundestag, whose constituency of Oldenburg-Ammerland is one of the regions particularly affected by the current flood, also referred to the federal government’s special responsibility. “It was true for the people in the Ahr Valley a few years ago and it still applies today: the people in the affected regions can rely on the federal government,” he told the magazine.
As a result of the Federal Constitutional Court’s budget ruling, the Bundestag had to pass a supplementary budget for 2023 in December – and to do so, it had to suspend the debt brake again, as it has done since 2020 due to the corona pandemic.
Discussions on reforming the debt brake
The FDP, which governs the federal government with the SPD and the Greens, is currently rejecting a suspension of the debt brake for 2024. On the other hand, in recent weeks there have been calls from several parties and economic experts to fundamentally reform the debt brake anchored in the Basic Law or even to suspend it again for 2024.
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SPD leader Saskia Esken had called for this for 2023 and 2024 and argued with a “continuing crisis situation”. The head of the economists, Monika Schnitzer, had also advocated suspending and reforming the debt brake. The economist Veronika Grimm had again spoken out against suspending the debt brake. “Suspending the debt brake via an emergency rule requires an emergency. It is difficult to argue,” the economist told the newspapers of the Funke media group. She also sees the danger of the state becoming excessively indebted.
In view of the tense flood situation in several federal states, the leading SPD budget politician Dennis Rohde has brought the debt brake into play again. “The full extent of the flood damage cannot yet be foreseen, but for exactly such cases we have the option of suspending the debt brake, which is in the Basic Law,” said Dennis Rohde, budget policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, to the Stern. The Federal Constitutional Court’s budget ruling issued in mid-November did not change this after the federal government had to fundamentally replan its budget for 2023 and 2024. The debt brake anchored in the Basic Law was suspended again for 2023.
2024-01-03 05:40:39
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